Vioxx Verdicts Overturned By Court In Merck’s Favor
On May 29th, an appeals court in Texas overturned a jury ruling in favor of Carol Ernst, who had sued Merck, the creators of Vioxx, after her husband Robert died from taking the drug. The appeals court decided that the plaintiffs had not proven that Vioxx was the cause of Mr. Ernst’s death. In a separate appeals court ruling in New Jersey, a ruling against Merck was greatly reduced. The court overturned the jury’s decision to find Merck guilty of committing consumer fraud and responsible for paying punitive damages. The court ruled that Merck was only responsible for paying compensatory damages to the tune of $4.5 million.
These rulings left the plaintiffs with just three minor victories against Merck of the total twenty cases against the pharmaceutical company which had reached juries. Mark Lanier, one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers, promised to appeal after criticizing the decision. However, these rulings will make little difference as the plaintiffs and Merck have already agreed to a payout of $4.85 billion to the 50,000 plaintiffs that have sued the company claiming that Vioxx was responsible for causing the drug’s users heart attacks or strokes. The plaintiffs have until June 30th to reach a final settlement agreement.
